Teacher's Pet
by Resa Aureus
Summary: COMPANION ONE-SHOT TO THE AWARD-WINNING STORY "THE LAST MARAUDER". It is the last day of term and Severus just wants to progress to the summer in peace, but a certain student of his is determined to make that impossible.


A/N. Alright, everyone! This is a companion one-shot to The Last Marauder, my other story which is now complete. A lot of people were curious about how Severus's romance with his wife started, and now I can tell that story.

This is rated M for two reasons. 1. I'm overly cautious about everything because of some bad experiences with a different fanfiction site. 2. The Last Marauder is M and if you read this, I want you to read that - they are connected, after all, part of the same story but separate.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

...~oOo~...

TEACHER'S PET

It was the final day of Severus Snape's seventh year of being potion's master at Hogwarts. To say he was relieved was an understatement. He was always thankful for the summer because it meant a few blissful weeks without the morons that Dumbledore called students.

Although, he did admit, he felt a small tinge of sentimental about this graduating class. When he started working, they were his first round of First Years, and now they were graduating. It was the same way he felt when Draco had a birthday. Almost like, "he's grown, how interesting" and then it fades away.

At all corners of the castle, children were packing their things to go back to their parents for about three months before returning once more. Severus, however, was grading exams. He would stay at Hogwarts for most of the summer, planning the next year's curriculum, and maybe go back to Spinner's End for a week or so to clean it up. All the while, he'd be doubtlessly pestered by Hermione and write to the incarcerated Lucius. It was sure to be a grand summer, indeed.

Severus was in the middle of destroying one of his students' dreams of ever being a potioneer when there was a knock on his office door.

"Minerva, if that's you, I have no patience for your mothering today," he called out, never looking up from the paper. His quill scratched across the paper, marking it with a miserable number and adding it to his pile of failures. He chose the next one and began doing the same.

"Actually, Professor, it's me," a soft voice said, a girl poking her head in.

Severus stared blankly at her.

"Reghan? Reghan Somersby?" she said, a light blush highlighting her cheeks as she stepped in shyly.

"Oh, yes," Severus said without inflection. "The Hufflepuff. Is there anything I can assist you with, Miss Somersby?"

"Um, not exactly," she said, clasping her hands in front of her and walking in slowly. "I'd like it if you called my Reghan, though?"

"Miss Somersby, I assure you, no sort of flattery or kindness will benefit your final grade in my class," he intoned, continuing to scratch ink across another exam.

Reghan gave a small laugh and smile. "I failed my potions exam, sir. I do not think anything could help my grade at this point."

"If memory serves, potions were never your strong point, and yet you opted to take your OWL in them, which did you more harm than good," he droned. "Why, pray tell, would you do something so foolish?"

There was a slight pause before she said, "I was hoping that if I just... studied hard enough I could, well, pass and... impress you, sir."

"Why in the name if magic would you want to impress me, of all professors?" he inquired, honestly curious. He looked up from the paper then. "I am not exactly known for being the most lovable of educators in this institution."

The girl was made of ash blonde hair that fell to her shoulder in waves, dark blue eyes, and extremely pale skin. She was a tiny thing with a toothpick waistline and flat chest, small hands and feet. She looked like an elfish creature with all the cloud white coloring and drastically dark eyes.

"You see..." she said slowly, pausing and biting her lip. "I always had a... sort of... silly crush on you."

Severus did not react at all. He continued to stare emotionlessly. But inside, his brain was trying to make sense of her words. In the end, they made no sense. He'd been coarse and short with her and every other student since her very first year at the school. And she... cared for him?

"Miss Somersby," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm afraid this is a bit inappropriate. You are, after all, my student."

"Not anymore, I'm not," she correct him gently. "I'm leaving Hogwarts for my last time tomorrow."

"And I wish you the best," Severus said, trying to be cordial as he returned to his exams, wordlessly dismissing her.

But she did not leave. "I know I might seem like a silly little girl. It's what a lot of people think about me. But... ever since First Year I just... adored you. It was like I was magnetized towards you. I took all your extra classes and studied as hard as I could but, honestly, I was always so lost. Potions were never my thing, I suppose. All the other girls made fun of me for studying so hard when I knew I would fail anyway, so they started teasing me about fancying you.

"But I never minded because, well, I did fancy you. And then when it was published that you were the one to defeat Voldemort, you weren't only the teacher I had a crush on, but my hero as well. I'm a muggle-born, you see, and I'm eternally grateful for what you did. And it only made me like you more. When I tried abandoning my feelings for you, it didn't... work. It only made me sad. So... I still fancy you, I suppose. But it's more than a little girl's crush on the mysterious potions master - I've grown up caring about you, and every year my feelings only became... more. They matured and grew. So much that, even if you'll probably throw me out once I stop talking, I stand here anyway.

"Because I just... wanted you to know," she finished, each word crescendo-ing as she closed her monologue. Then she added, "Even if I know you noticed me staring at you all through class. And don't lie, I know you noticed. You aren't stupid after all."

No, Severus was not stupid. And yes, he had noticed her staring, but he always wrote it off as a flighty Hufflepuff daydreaming and happening to zone out while watching him. And after the newspaper articles about him following Voldemort's demise, he'd been stared at a lot. Mostly in fear, sometimes impressed. But he always remember that she'd look at him with... admiration.

It didn't make sense for her - or any of his students - to develop feelings for him. He was a brutal, ruthless professor who deducted points merely because he could and was unattractive to boot. If his Arithmancy skills were still working, he'd say there was something wrong with this equation.

"Miss Somersby -"

"_Reghan_," she corrected him, sounding a little ruffled.

He ignored her. "If I might ask... why?"

Reghan blinked. "Why... what?"

"Why do you... carry these feelings for me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, blinking again.

"I'm afraid it isn't," he drawled slowly.

"Well, to start, you're brilliant, aren't you? And dark and mysterious. And I find you... extremely attractive. You're a war hero..." She stopped. "Would you like me to go on, or is that enough?"

Severus breathed out and said, "Indeed. All of this is enough, actually. While I find your praises to be... flattering and kind, I find myself to be uncomfortable with hearing it from a young woman who is not only my student, but also a great deal younger than me."

"I'm not your student anymore," she said again, rolling her eyes. "And I'm not all that younger than you. Only eight or nine years. And I'm an adult."

"How do you know my age?" he demanded, perplexed.

"You're not the only one who reads, you know."

Severus sighed and put down his quill, shifting the exam to the side and leaning forward on his forearms. "I am going to make this very clear, Miss Somersby, even for you. I am your teacher. I have always been your teacher. I teach hundreds of students over the course of a day. And in these past seven years of teaching you, you have stood out no more than any other flighty, insufferable Hufflepuff I've ever come across. In conclusion, if you are looking for reciprocation of your feelings, you will not find it with me."

Reghan's expression did not change a single iota.

"So," Severus said, "please, leave my office promptly. This is vastly inappropriate and trying my patience. You should count yourself lucky I haven't said much worse." He pointedly lifted his quill once more and looked down at his desk.

He could hear Reghan's footsteps retreating and he also heard them stop before the door. "In exactly one week, I'll be spending the evening at the Three Broomsticks. I would very much like to share a drink with you, Professor. Whether or not you come... I'll be there."

And Severus listened as his office door creaked and she exited the room.

...~oOo~...

"... and then you threw down the exams were were grading, chased after me, and caught me in a passionate embrace, declaring your love for me before we shared our first of many beautiful kisses," Reghan ended with a dramatic flourish.

"Interesting," Severus drawled. "I don't remember that last part."

"Really?" Reghan said with wide, blue innocent eyes. "It's my favorite part."

"It never happened," Severus said. "The ending, I mean. The rest did, obviously, otherwise we wouldn't be lying here today, but I did not chase after you. On the contrary, I locked my office door the moment you left."

"Okay, perhaps that ending only happened in my mind," Reghan chuckled, sitting up to lean over her husband of six hours. "But it's how I'll tell our children one day. It isn't very romantic to say, 'Oh, and then your father locked the door so his crazy, stalker student couldn't get back in.'" She shook her head, her loose blonde waves shifting beautifully. "And you better not spoil it when I do tell them."

"Shame there won't be any children, then," Severus said, sliding the arm that wasn't draped around his young wife behind his head. "They would have found the fictitious story intriguing, no doubt."

"No children!" Reghan exclaimed, aghast. "Of course there will be children! I'm a bloody Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake - I'm practically born to be a mother!"

"Have fun trying to impregnate yourself, then," Severus said simply. "Because I certainly won't."

Reghan pouted. "You're being unfair."

"I am being realistic."

Reghan dropped her head onto his chest and looked up at him wistfully. "Don't you want baby Severuses running around?"

"Absolutely not. Children require changing and cleaning and attention... and I do not wish to compete for attention from my wife with a child who cannot even walk on its own."

"You're terribly cynical," Reghan said, sliding her body over his, one of her knees on each side of his waist. "It makes me wonder why I love you."

"Don't you remember?" he said tauntingly. "I am brilliant, aren't I? Dark and mysterious. You find me extremely attractive. I'm a war hero... would you like me to go on, or is that enough?"

Reghan laughed at his mocking and said, "Shut up," as she bent down to kiss him. Their kiss lengthened and deepened as Severus's hands stroked her hips, running over her soft, pale skin, following the curve of her bum and down the backs of her thighs. She purred into his mouth, pressing her naked body against his.

Reghan's hands curled into his black hair as she pressed her breasts into his chest. "Make love to me, Severus," she whispered into his mouth, her cool breath dancing across his tongue tantalizingly.

"As you wish, my wife."

"You're my hero. I love you."

"And I love you."

...~oOo~...

A/N. So there is my little one-shot of how Severus got with Reghan. It's kind of cute in a sexy student-teacher way. I wonder if he makes her wear plaid skirts, you think?

Favorite part and line? Thoughts?

~ So Long And Thanks For All The Fish ~


End file.
